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| Relient K - The Bird and the Bee Sides
Grade: B by Neil Evans |
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Relient K has returned with The Bird and the Bee Sides, a collection of thirteen new tracks dubbed "The Nashville Tennis EP" and thirteen rare and never released B-sides. While the packaging and marketing of this disc may be confusing, there is no second guessing Relient K's ability to create poppy and melodic masterpieces.
"The Nashville Tennis EP" mixes all styles in the band's repertoire. "Where Do I Go From Here?" is great, standard pop-punk song while "The Lining is Silver," arguably the best track on the album, mixes rock, punk, melody, softer moments and U2-like delayed picking. Most songs are short and hit all the right notes. My only complaint is the packaging of combining the new and old onto one disc. While there is somewhat of a marked transition between the two collections, some listeners may be put off or confused as to the difference.
The "Bee" sides are solid. Listeners can tell why they never made the cut on any previous albums, but it is cool to hear rare songs of the past and newer songs like "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" and "Up and Up" reinterpreted as acoustic ballads. For die-hard Relient K fans, this album is a must but for casual fans, at least check out iTunes or their MySpace and preview "The Lining is Silver."
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